Driving their business to grow and intensify while keeping true to their farming values for Mt Somers Station is a challenge for David and Kate Acland who are also heavily involved in both their local community and wider industry groups. They talked to Annette Scott.

Mt Somers Station is a 3800 hectare family property in the heart of the Mid Canterbury foothills.

The Acland family has farmed the fully integrated property with proud traditions of caring for their land, environment and people for almost 40 years.

The philosophy has always been to farm with minimal impact, recognising that to farm sustainably they must farm profitably and remain open to change as they take a 100-year view on their farming business decisions. . .

Ngāi Tahu Farming chair Barry Bragg says the government’s announcement of their five-year joint action plan on agricultural emissions signals a step in the right direction, but that the sector must work collaboratively to implement urgent change.

Ngāi Tahu Farming is a large-scale agricultural presence in Te Waipounamu with interests in dairy, beef and forestry, and Bragg says that the business strives to balance economic priorities against reducing environmental impact.

“We are charged with running a farming business that contributes to the commercial outcomes of the iwi, as well as upholding Ngāi Tahu values. . .

“My understanding of a meaningful life is having a sense of purpose and having a sense of struggle that’s attached to that, because youquickly get bored with yourself if those ingredients are missing,” says Ross Monaghan, Science Team Leader of the Environmental Sciences Team.

Ross was born and bred in the sleepy rural Southland town of Mataura, 13 kilometres south of Gore. This was where he spent quite a lot of his childhood growing up on family farms where his enjoyment for agriculture began to flourish.

“I quickly realised that to own a farm without a large backing of capital was quite a tough thing to do, so I drifted into agricultural science. I then specialised in soil science. I could see that obviously agriculture is important to New Zealand and that there are quite a lot of environmental pressures coming through due in part to agriculture, so that’s where I thought I could perhaps gain some expertise and try and make a difference to alleviate some of those pressures.” . . .